Oilers Win Smythe, Beating Canucks, 3-0 : NHL playoffs: Edmonton’s division championship is its eighth in the past 10 seasons.

Edmonton Oiler Coach Ted Green says he’s going to do what he does best. He’s going to play golf--same as the Vancouver Canucks.

Green’s Oilers advanced to their third consecutive Campbell Conference final series and their eighth in 10 years with a 3-0 victory over the Canucks on Tuesday night to win the Smythe Division final in six games.

The Oilers will open the best-of-seven conference finals in Chicago on Saturday. Edmonton beat the Blackhawks in the conference finals in 1983, 1985 and 1990, the only three times they have met in the playoffs.

Vancouver became the third regular-season division champion to be eliminated in this year’s upset-studded playoffs. Montreal was earlier swept by Boston in the Adams final and Detroit dropped four in a row to Chicago in the Norris.

“I will not think about Chicago for at least two days,” Green said after the Oilers ended the Canucks’ phenomenal turnaround season in which Vancouver finished fourth overall with its best record in club history.

“I will smile for 24 hours. I will enjoy what we’ve accomplished. These players should be proud of themselves. It took us eight months to come together as a team.

“We’ve been a very comfortable bunch for the last three or four months. I think we deserve a lot of credit for taking on the Los Angeles Kings and for beating the first-place team in this division.”

The Canucks, searching for another playoff miracle, ran out of magic. The Oilers opened an early 2-0 lead, and goaltender Bill Ranford stopped 26 shots as Edmonton advanced.

Craig MacTavish, Vince Damphousse and Esa Tikkanen scored for the Oilers. MacTavish’s goal was shorthanded and Tikkanen’s into an empty net.

Edmonton finished 14 points behind the Canucks during the regular season. Canuck Coach Pat Quinn said the Oilers won the series with their defensive play.

“Although the Oilers have won series with great offensive clubs, they won it with a good defensive club there,” he said. “I would say it was defense that won it for them.

“Our offense couldn’t overcome it.”